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Friday, November 16, 2012

Britain training rebels to assassinate Syrian president: report

As British Prime Minister David Cameron prepares to use the Royal Air
Force (RAF) in Syria to put an end to the massacres the Syrian regime is
committing throughout the country, British Special Forces are training
rebels to assassinate the Syrian president and his commanders, the
London Daily Star reported.

UK government sources told the newspaper that British assassination
squads are in Syria to train rebels on how to target President Bashar
al-Assad and his warlords. Some troops hailing from Britain Special Air
Service (SAS), Special Boat Section (SBS) and the Airborne Infantry of
the British Army (Paras) are also in the country to teach Anti-Assad
fighters techniques on the accurate use of weapons and explosives
against Assad regime forces, the sources said.

Unlike the previous position of the United States and Western countries
not to arm the Syrian rebels, U.S. president Barack Obama and Cameron
are considering to intervene in Syria and to enforce a no-fly zone, the
sources added.

Earlier this week, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad showed defiance when
he appeared on Russian television warning against any intervention.
Assad promised to take the fight till the end. “I’m Syrian, I was made
in Syrian and I have to live in Syria and die in Syria,” he said.

During his visit to Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, Cameron urged the
United States to pressure the international community to offer more help
to Syrians who were forced to leave their country due to ongoing
violence.

“Right here in Jordan I am hearing appalling stories of what has
happened inside Syria and one of the first things I want to talk to
Obama about is how we must do more to try and solve this crisis,”
Cameron said.

Since March 2011, an overall death toll of more than 37,000 was recorded
by the monitoring group, the Observatory of Human Rights. The New York
Times said more than 20,000 members of the Syrian army have defected and
joined the Free Syrian Army across the country.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

The same party wins every time. Duopoly power rules. America is a one
party state with two wings. Each replicates the other. On major issues
mattering most, not a dime's worth of difference separates them.The late Gore Vidal explained it as well as anyone. Some of his best comments included:"Apparently,
a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost
without issues and with interchangeable candidates.""Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically by definition be disqualified from ever doing so.""By the time a man gets to be presidential material, he's been bought ten times over.""Every four years the naive half who vote
are encouraged to believe that if we can elect a really nice man or
woman President everything will be all right. But it won't be.""The
genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people
from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge
along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return.""We should stop going around babbling about how we're the greatest democracy on earth."He
also said America is "rotting away at a funereal pace. We'll have a
military dictatorship pretty soon, on the basis that nobody else can
hold everything together."He thought of himself as a modern-day Voltaire. We need a legion of them at perhaps the most perilous time in world history.Reelecting Obama assures worse than his first term harm. Romney in office would match him blow for blow. Voters
likely chose the lesser of two evils. At least they thought they did.
In any form, evil is evil. Duopoly power offers no other choice.Expect
four more years of permanent wars, greater economic hardships, growing
poverty, unemployment, homelessness, hunger, and human misery, handing
more of the nation's wealth to corporate predators, governing lawlessly,
and cracking down ruthlessly on resisters.Anti-progressivism
defines Obama's agenda. He's hard-right, reactionary, belligerent, and
pro-corporate. He serves wealth, power and privilege at the expense of
essential popular needs.Force-fed austerity will harm millions more
than already. Expect human suffering to increase exponentially
domestically and abroad. Why anyone would support what they should
condemn they'll have to explain.It's true as well about political
promises broken every time. IF Stone told aspiring journalists that all
governments lie. Nothing they say should be believed.Obama exceeded
the worst of his predecessors. Every major pledge made he broke. He's a
duplicitous con man. He's a crime boss, serial liar and moral coward. He
promised change and delivered betrayal.He doesn't fool all the
people all the time but enough to matter. Tuesday night he celebrated
with supporters. The Chicago Tribune headlined it. It shamelessly
endorsed his reelection. It praised his "decisiveness and intellectual
rigor." It backed the worst of his policies. McCormick Place echoed with
"deafening cheers….launching a wild celebration among thousands of his
supporters."It was subdued compared to 2008. Chicago offices closed
early. Tens of thousands packed Grant Park downtown. Word came around
10PM. The celebratory mood felt like New Year's eve. Supporters thought Obama could make a difference at a time of deepening economic duress. He made things worse, not better.This
year, McCormick Place erected huge television screens. Victory was
announced around 11:20PM. Several thousand inside heard it. They came by
invitation only. They were hand picked in advance. Tickets were needed
for entry.City streets were no more active than usual. The
celebratory mood four years ago wasn't repeated. Most people likely went
to bed. Obama's victory speech sounded like more campaigning. "We are an American family and we rise as one people," he said."Whether
I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I have learned from
you, and you've made me a better president. I return to the White House
more determined and more inspired than ever.""Tonight, you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours.""(W)e know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come.""We
want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the
best schools and the best teachers….(a) global leader….with all of the
good jobs and new businesses that follow.""We
want to pass on a country that’s safe and respected and admired around
the world, a nation that is defended by the strongest military on
earth….to shape a peace that is built on the promise of freedom and
dignity for every human being.""We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a tolerant America open to the dreams of" everyone."Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending.""I
return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever
about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead.""And
together, with your help and God’s grace, we will continue our journey
forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest
nation on earth."All of the above was said with forked tongue.
Obama and likeminded rogues deplore rule of law principles, other
democratic values, and vital social services when they're most needed.They
prioritize war, not peace. Their agenda threatens humanity. They don't
give a damn about ordinary people. Obama never did. He just pretends.
Despite all the harm inflicted on so many, half the country still
supports him. Why they'll have to explain.Imagine what he plans in
term two. Humanity may not survive. More wars are planned. Current ones
will continue. Social America is on the chopping block for elimination. Great Betrayal priorities demand it.Resisters
face harsh crackdowns. Anyone can be arrested, imprisoned, and stay
there indefinitely uncharged and untried. On Obama's say alone, people
can be marked for death. He's now judge, jury and executioner. America
hasn't been fit to live in for years. It's now dangerous. Ahead it'll
be intolerable. Obama's mandate is to assure it. Imagine a leader
promising better times and delivering what few can tolerate.Imagine
too few realizing that the worst is yet to come. Imagine putting up
with what should be challenged and dispatched. Imagine media scoundrels
praising what they should condemn.America's "newspaper of record"
endorsed him for the wrong reasons. Death squad diplomacy was ignored.
So were plans for global dominance and human deprivation at home.The
New York Times cited economic recovery at a time it's worsening. It
called his achievements "impressive." It claimed destructive domestic
and foreign policies were successes. It turned truth on its head. It
"enthusiastically" endorsed four more years. On November 6, it
headlined "President Obama's Success," saying:Winning showed most people support his "economic policies that stress job growth, health care reform, tax increases and balanced deficit reduction….""It was a repudiation….of the politics of fear, intolerance and disinformation."Fact checkObama
wrecked the economy to help banks, other corporate favorites, and rich
elites. He's been more a job destroyer than creator. Nearly 25 million
remain unemployed. They represent nearly 23% of eligible workers. Most
youths have no futures. Higher education doesn't help. Increasingly
it's unaffordable. Most getting it end up debt entrapped for years,
decades, and in some cases forever.Obama continued past policies of
offshoring high pay/good benefit jobs. Most remaining are low pay/poor
or no benefit part-time or temp ones.He cut corporate taxes. He left
Bush-era cuts for the rich in place. He plans more of the same at the
expense of public need. He presides over the largest military budget in
world history. Increases are planned, not cuts.He handed America's healthcare system to corporate predators. Ralph Nader calls it "a pay-or-die system that's the disgrace of the Western world."Costs
are shifted to consumers. Most get inadequate or unaffordable care.
Corporate provider profits are better than ever. So-called financial
reform did the same for Wall Street and other large financial
institutions.Deficit reduction will be done on the backs of ordinary
people who can least afford it. Destroying social America is planned to
accomplish it.New York Times editors are well paid. Human deprivation isn't their concern.Nation
magazine also endorsed Obama. It openly campaigned for him. Defeating
him would be catastrophic for progressive politics, it claimed. Truth
was ignored in support of what should have been condemned. Policies too
disturbing to discuss are ignored. Obama's war on humanity and police
state repression get no attention. Sophistry and lies substitute. It's
official Nation policy. It's been that way throughout its history.
It masquerades as progressive. It represents middle-America elites.
Ordinary people don't matter.On November 7, Nation contributor John
Nichols headlined "For Obama, a Bigger Win Than for Kennedy, Nixon,
Carter, Bush or Bush," saying:He won "a credible, national win….And
it was a real victory….And a president who has been comfortably
reelected ought not think small. He should 'spend his capital' on
projects worthy of the trust Americans have afforded him."Not a word
in Nichols' article about permanent imperial wars, prioritizing
corporate favoritism, US-style fascism wrapped in an American flag,
growing unmet people needs, and harsh police state laws targeting
resisters.Nothing either on Democrats perhaps better able to destroy
social America than Republicans. In 2008, monied interests chose him to
do what Republicans wouldn't dare. It represented a classic reverse
Nixon goes to China moment.The fix was in. There's unfinished
business. Four more Obama years may complete turning America into the
worst of all possible worlds. Backers have that idea in mind.Nation magazine and other progressive charlatans conceal it. Nichols and contributors like him turn reality on its head.Most
Americans afforded Obama nothing. Most votes for him were likely
against Romney. Money power in America chooses candidates and winners.
Corporate manipulated and controlled electronic voting machines have
final say.Nichols and likeminded Obama supporters suppress what
should be headlined. Ordinary Americans will learn more harsh truths
straightaway. Lame duck congressional budget cutting looms. They'll
be hardest hit. Obama supports it. Monied interests gave him two terms
for that purpose. He hasn't disappointed. Expect lots more pain and
suffering ahead.-###-Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.